Process of unhairing hides and skins.



. New Jersey,- have Unhairing Rides and UNITED ST TES OFFICE."

LOUIS STERN, F IIEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS OF UNI-IAIBING HIDES AND SKINS.

1,0 lanai.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patent d Mar. 12, 1912.

No Drawing. Application filed. February 18,1904, Serial No. 194,255. Renewed April 1, 1908.. Serial mo.

I To all whom it may zii wern:

vBe it known that 1, Louis S'rnax. a citizen of the United States, residing at hlewark, invented a certain new and useful Improvement in the Process of Skins, of which the following is a specification.

rn0ve the same from the hide.

current ,of normal air near the roots of the Hitherto in the proc ss of unhairing hides, it has been customary to first. submit the hide to some chemical process whereby the hair is loosened from the hide. and :then remove, the same by some mechanical means. The chemical process requires a considerable time. andrcsults man-y times in a deterioration of the hide. Moreover, the hair, after having been removed, has largely lost its value as a b v.-pro ,lur.:t by reason of the action upon it of the various chemicals used in the process. may be removed h 'nnediately without the lapse of any considerable time at'ter removing the hide from the animal. and without.

the use. ofauy chemical action upon the hide' Whatever. hloreover, the hair, after having been removed, becomes a useful and valuable bv- )rod ct. and may be Saved as. such.

In 'arrying out my process, I take they hide is'reduccd to a; degree in the vicinity.

of that of'th'e liquid air itself, and I find that the hair near its roots, while at such aftemperature, bccomcsycry brittle, and it only requires the slightest: agitation to re- This agitation may be produced in any one of a variety of ways, as, for example, by directing a hair, or by using an ordinary brush or steel instrument, or any scraping instrument which will readily brush, scrape, or remove the hair from the hides: In each of these methods of reniov'ing the hair, I find that it has a tendency to and does break cit close down to the root of 'the hair; andthereby remove all traccof the same from the s'nr-' By my new process the hairapplied 'to it; or,

face of the hide, so that not even the stub ends of the hair are left protruding from the hide.

I. ha \e obtained very good results from using a fine-spray of liquid air and working; the same very closeto the roots of the hair, the purpose being to render the hair brittle near its roots, so that. it may readily break loose therefrom. In carrying out this last mentioned pr0cess, I use a flat, sprayingv nozzle from which the liquid air emerges in a thin flat spray. It then becomes only necessary to commence at the edge of the hide and direct this spray against-the roots, and it is found that the force of the spray itself is sufiicienbfo break the hair away. from the hide and make the sa'mcsuiliciently smooth, The liquid air which is confined in a closed receptacle, by its tendency to resume its normal gaseous condition, gen-' crates an enormous. pressure in itself." This pressure, his only necessary to vent through the spraying nozzle. No extraneous pres sure, therefore, is necessary to amon plish the'rquired results. I find that as soon as the hair and hide have both resumedtheir normal temperatures, no deleterious action has taken place, and .that'both hair and hide are in perfect condition for future use. The hide may then be subjected to any hair may be 'used for any purpose desired,

as, for cxan'iple, if it is suitable for .fclti ng pnrposes, it maybe innnediately used without further treatment. P i

I find that my process is equally 'applical lit for the removal of fur or Wool, or even.

able tor-the removal of fur or wool, or even .feathers, from skins where suchzfur or wool "or teat'hers are afterward to be used for felti ng,-or forany other purpose. The a1 plication-o-f artificial cold to the fur, either the skin itself, Will render such funsufficiently frangible to be readily broken away from the skin, and when the fur 'a ain resumes its normaltemperature, I'fin that. it

- has notin the least degree deteriorated, and

tlie'felting proccsses may be immediately used for any othcrfpurpose', it is ready for feathers,- and after their removal by my as a whole or at its point of connectiongivith in case such fur is to be i .such use. The same is true. of wool-and process, and they have resumed their normal I t-heretd- I I'n handling sheep pelts, it has heen'found tciiiperntures, they are ready for flirt-her treatment or for use for any purpose whatever. v I find that my process is'equally appli-v cable-fertile removal of any fleshy-fiber or substance which may adhere. to the inner s'urfuceof the hide or skin, and in the broad cla iins.\vhich I have annexed to this speci-' fieutionjl have claimed the process of. re 10 moving any surface covering froin the hide or skin by the application of artific al] cold that the outside or hair. surface of the pelt is impregnatedfvvith anoilwhich-is known to'the tr'zid-e-as s uin't. I'have found by efxperi'ment thatby the spraying of the surfnce'ioft'he sheep pelt from which the wool has "been removed, tlliS-Slllfadfi C0VG1il'ig0f" 20 suintwill he solidified anddrawn to the:

surface of the leather, Where it appears its a kind of hoar-frost and it may be brushed or shaken from the surface'of. thepelt and.

aecumulntcd in quantities, end when it ha s resumed its: normal temperaiturefitis foundto be substantially pure. suintf My Qprocess is therefore useful 'in 'removing} not Only'the- .hair, fur, wool or feethers,'hut elsouseful in. extracting or removing from the .su'rfa ce of sheep pelts this suhstancegs'uint. l'

Believing myselfte nillinventor of thei'p'ro'cess of removing: the sjurface'covering eff-whatever character from hide}s or skins'of variouskinds, I desire to nhim the process infthe b'roadest terms, and diThQfWiShi-iiO-b considered as limiting my 'jgroces's solelytofl that of unheiring alone;

ut'consid'er itflusefulkin remoying surface 'Sk11lf S." v i While Ifhavef described more particularly considered as limitingmy intofh ' breaking be th first and'crigia coi ering from hidesor skins; which-consists I- fee'e covering-by meansici thev'ap heat-ion,

, isefofli'quid nix-alone, foithention residcsfnot intheu'se of an par 1 ticijilnr-"gasliquefied' 015-, otherwise reduced -toa'very lbw temperature; butirether in the reduction of tlie'temperatnreof, the hair to "at point where," it bebomes'; sufiieientl-y "brittle .t pbe neadi ly ghrnken alwaypfremthehide byl eny'slight agitation. This temperature as I have'described'it'may be produced inan of a'variety ofweys, and I find by expel-1 'ment that liquid-air, and iiquefie'd gases (namely, such gases as liqueiy onlyet-iyeryi low temperatures) form very convenient Ve lhicles for carry'in out. my proees's. Any

other means when 'y'the' temperature of the. I hair nay'beredueed to'such 'a point as to m'ake'it veryjfrangible, I rwo uld consider as coming within the scape of-my"intgentien "Having-thus described'my inventiom'what I desire to secure-by Letters Patent 'o'fthe United States'is; i '7 v. H

1 The process offunheir'ing-hides and skins which consists rendering theheir ex tremely frangible by 'neens of artificial cold, and then removing the hair by slight agi'tm tionql' v v 2 The process of nnheir-ing hides and skins" which' consists 'of applying artificial ecld' tothe roots (if the hair w'hereby' the hair is -1nade; e zktremely frangible, and then the. hair away frolnthe hide-017 I 3;" The process of 'unhairing hides and skins which consists v. iii-reducing theften'r -'pereture of the hair upon the; hide or skin the application thereto-of liquid air, and, then removing sueh hair-by meansj of agitationfl 1' 1 r 4a The process --',ofunhairing vhidesfhnd skins'whichiconsistsin thenpplicati'on -,of 1

liquefied gas to the 'heirfat its roots; and'p' "thereafter breaking such hair awey iro m' of reducing thetemperature of such sure of artificial cold, 'whereby euch surece ebw n "r nd e xc v eymn ble en thereafter 'remoi ingsfuch' s'firfec; covering zfioin-the hide :cr. skin by means of agitation. I j (ii-The method of retr eving hair or} :Eur'r 1.00, from hides or. Skinsiwhich jconsists nt rim: lhersingthe-hi'des er;skins ini a liquefiedg r {and thereafter brushing or. sempin theha r "brffiir frernthe hideo'r-skin; f "This: *spec-ifice't'ion signed; nd' witnessed this 17th day of February 1904. 31-

" LOU-IS- Louis;'M.- "SA1-inERs Fueling Q; Fleeting 

